A FURIOUS pensioner has hit out at a clamping firm for having inadequate signage after her car was towed and she was forced to pay £467 to have it released.

Paula Tolhurst parked behind St Augustine's Church, in Fulham Palace Road, at 6.30pm on January 30 as she attended a church service.

The 73-year-old left at 11.30pm to find her Toyota Corolla being towed away by workers from Newline Parking Management - to be taken to a pound 22 miles away in Edmonton, north London.

After an hour-and-a-half taxi ride to the pound, Mrs Tolhurst was confronted with a locked office and was forced to go back the next day to pay the hefty charge.

And she is fuming with the lack of lighting at the spot in which she parked, where the clamping warning signs are hidden in darkness.

She said: “I went back to the parking site and found that the notices were high up and not easy to see. At night it they are impossible to see because there is no lighting.

“It was an incredibly distressing experience. I would never consider parking illegally, let alone on private property.

“It has been horrendous for me. I had to go to north London, in a dodgy neighbourhood, and walk around in the dark looking for the offices and then they were closed.

“Then I was shocked at how much it cost to release it because my car is not even worth £467. I think that the managers of this site should be instructed to put up proper notices in places that are easy to see and that my fine and expenses should be returned.”

Newline Parking Management is listed as being run by Christopher and Annabel El-Kerim. Mr El-Kerim, who is also a director of the N18 Vehicle Pound where Mrs Tolhurst's car was taken, was unavailable for comment when the Chronicle contacted the company this week.

But Mrs Tolhurst hopes her story can, at least, act as a lesson to other drivers in Hammersmith and Fulham.

“I don't want other drivers to go through the same experience as I had to. In England we are known for our compassion and kind nature but this has really upset me.

“It seems like a snatch and grab by this company. They have a business to run, I understand that, but the signs are hidden in the dark and that is wholly unfair.”